Rethreaded sews into the heart of Jacksonville; wins most votes at One Spark

JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- A local organization in the One Spark Festival sewed its way into the heart of Jacksonville when it won the most votes this week.

Sewing a new story is the motto for Rethreaded, an organization that aims to take women out of the sex trade and offer them a different life, where they can sew a new beginning. Kristin Keen is the director of Rethreaded and first starting working with women involved in the trade in India.

"When I went out there my heart was always for women to know their worth and their value," said Keen.

For five years Keen said she helped the women start a successful sewing business.

"I was able to see the power of business and its effect on women and how it gave them a way out, it empowered them, it gave them a place of healing, a place of community. So when I moved back from India I knew that I still wanted to bring freedom to women who were in the cycle of the sex trade," said Keen.

On the First Coast she started working with rehabilitation centers to find women who wanted a new start. Rethreaded currently has one employee who left the trade to create. Now with the help of One Spark, Rethreaded aims to hire four more employees in June.

"I'm motivated to get up. I'm motivated to make the business work because I know who is coming to be here I know how much it has the potential to help people," added Keen.

The organization makes clothing for children out of t-shirts and puts all the women through art classes to learn design, color, and sewing. Rethreaded won first place in the art category at One Spark and won $6,768.

"Thank you for being a city that believes things can change that we can have safe places for our women to go and get help and have good jobs and just say thank you," said Keen.

Rethreaded has an open warehouse sale every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. To learn more about how to purchase items or get involved you can go to the organizations Facebook page.